Method and means for binding of ground surfaces on bedding which is uneven or has a tendency to give way

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method and means for binding ground surfaces on bedding that is uneven or has a tendency to give way. A building and/or bedding are provided with a system of mutually connected vertical walls forming a grid, said walls forming or being provided with openings into which loose material is introduced to support the walls laterally and vertically after height adjustment or levelling of said wall system. The height adjustment or levelling is accomplished by means of jacks provided in or under the grid-work, and can be effected in one or more stages. The arrangement can be used to reinforce bedding irrespective of whether or not there is a building standing on it; modifications can be made to suit the purpose of the arrangement.

United States Patent Algers 1151 3,667,178 [451 June 6,1972

[54] METHOD AND MEANS FOR BINDING OF GROUND SURFACES ON BEDDING WHICH IS UNEVEN OR HAS A Primary ExaminerPrice C. Faw, Jr.

TENDENCY To GIVE WAY Attorney-Young & Thompson [72] Inventor: Knut Borge Algers, Ehrenstrahlsvagen 40,

Bromma, Sweden [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: May 22, 1970 The present invention relates to a method and means for bind- 1 PP 39,770 ing ground surfaces on bedding that is uneven or has a tendency to give way. A building and/or bedding are provided 30 F A r D m with a system of mutually connected vertical walls forming a I 1 Drug" pp [ca y a grid, said walls forming or being provided with openings into May 28, 1969 Sweden ..7494/69 which loose material is introduced to support the walls laterally and vertically after height adjustment or levelling of [52] [1.8. CI. ..52/292, 52/742, 61/50 said wall system. The height adjustment or levelling is accom- [51] ..E02d 27/00 plished by means of jacks provided in or under the grid-work, [58] Field of Search ..52/169, 167, 292, 742, 743; and can be effected in one or more stages. The arrangement 94/11, l3; 61/50, 36 can be used to reinforce bedding irrespective of whether or notthere is a building standing on it; modifications can be [56] References Cited made to suit the purpose of the arrangement.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Claims, 1 1 Drawing Figures 961,438 6/1910 Goldsborough ..52/742 X I 4: 1 l l' Z I i" (Li -L 4 J !4 l l 4 x!- /f-/ ;l I l l l "l 1- j/. J l I 1 l l .l 1 1 METHOD AND MEANS FOR BINDING OF GROUND SURFACES ON BEDDING WHICH IS UNEVEN OR HAS A TENDENCY TO GIVE WAY The present invention relates to a method and means for binding of ground surfaces on bedding which is uneven or has a tendency to give way. Said invention permits height adjustment and the absorption of concentrated loads.

Previously, methods have been described for adjusting the structure position to compensate for possible giving way. According to these processes, suitable material, e.g. sand, for the final fixing is introduced into the space formed at the levelling between the subgrade and the bedding. Said material is then spread out under a large part of the structures surface. In conventional constructions, this can occur eg by stopping or injecting from the side of said constructions, or from isolated holes in the bottom of the constructions, as in a house having a cellar. Another known method is to inject a mass of stuffing material through holes drilled in the construction. Also, the Swedish patent 195,797 discloses a method limited to caissons in water whereby a horizontal bed is formed by releasing shingle, or the like, from vertical bays in the caisson construction.

By forming buildings and building parts in certain ways, to be further described below with embodiments, buildings or building parts can be erected on ground previously considered to be unusable for construction purposes. Also, significant simplifications as well as savings in time and costs for foundation work can be attained. The constructions can be made so that arising concentrated loads are absorbed by them and are distributed over a greater surface. Thus the demands on the ultimate bearing resistance of the groung or bedding is diminished in corresponding degrees.

In the present invention, the most essential feature is that the building and/or the bedding is provided with a system of mutually connected vertical walls formed or provided with openings into which the loose material is introduced, 'in certain cases to support the walls laterally. After height adjusting or levelling of the wall system, said material partially falls down into the cavities thereby produced and also forms vertical support for said wall system. In this connection, building does not refer only to structures already completed or under construction, but also to parts thereof such as joists or other building members, and to installations on the ground such as roads, airfield runways, etc..

Means for the efi'ecting of the method is characterized firstly in that there is a system of mutually connected vertical walls designed to underpin the building, and secondly that loose material such as sand, shingle, macadam, crushed stone, granulate, clinkers, or the like, with little or no compressibility, is being introduced from above or from the side; said material forming support for the wall system both laterally and vertically after height adjustment of said wall system to a desired position.

Further characteristics of the present invention are revealed in the following.

The method and means disclosed in the invention are elucidated by the embodiments shown on the enclosed drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of framing of joists.

FIG. 2 similarly shows another framing of joists.

FIG. 3 similarly shows a third framing of joists wherein all the joists are arranged as a grid according to the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a vertical section through a floor element, arranged in principle as illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of still another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a box having a grid-work bottom.

FIG. 7 shows a vertical projection of a concrete joist slab.

FIG. 8 shows a similar, but metal joist slab.

FIG. 9 is an end view.

FIG. 10 as a plane view.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an embodiment having a perforated plate functioning as a grid.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a system of vertical walls 10 having their ends secured to corresponding side pieces 12, 14

of a frame and being parallel to the other side pieces l6, 18. The arrangement can be regarded as a grid which can be a building element, e.g. a joist having parallel secondary beams. Between the vertical walls are formed openings, into which loose material such as sand, shingle, macadam, crushed stone, granulate, clinkers can be introduced to be used as filling, blocking or stufiing material. The arrangement is also provided with lifting tackle or jacks 20 placed e.g. under all the comers of the element. Thereby, the element can be lifted and/or adjusted to horizontal or inclined positions.

FIG. 2 shows a system of mutually intersecting vertical walls 22, 24, within a frame 12, 14, 16, 18 which is underpinned by jacks 20 analogous with the preceding embodiment. The construction can be seen as a grid whose form can be applied to joists, or the like. The grid can be covered by a perforated plate 26 having openings 27 over the intersecting points of the walls 22, 24, as shown in FIG. 3. Instead of the perforated plate, loose floor elements 28 can be arranged as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 also gives examples of different ways to apply loose material. Before the floor elements are laid on, said loose material can be introduced from above, between the vertical walls 24 which form parts of a grid construction. If subsequent adjusting of the position of the grid is required, the floor elements can be temporarily removed. After the introduction of the material, the grid is lifted up to a desired height and horizontal position so that the loose material falls down under the lower edges of the walls 24 and forms support for said lower edges from below. Material is replenished so that it also supports the walls vertically. The filling can also be tamped and packed under the grid walls where wedges 32 can also be used for adjusting the height. To the right in FIG. 4 is shown a perforated plate 26, instead of floor elements. I-lere, loose filling material has been introduced through the openings 27 so that it forms a high filling on both sides of the wall 24.

Vertical walls for vertical blocking can be formed in a number of different ways. The example in FIG. 5 shows the walls made of tubes 34 placed perpendicular to a perforated plate 26 having a frame. The construction works in the same way as the joists shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The arrangement can be varied for either the construction or the material and proportions between height and surface dimensions within very wide boundaries, as well as for a function of the strain which the system is designed to absorb, and the subsequent adjusting possibilities desired. There is, of course, a connection between the height of the system and the therewith possible height adjustment. The system must be at least as high as a desired height adjustment if no lateral stabilin'ng is required; and it must be higher than the length of the height adjustment if lateral stabilizing is required. However, this connection is of no consequence if, after height adjustment has been efiected, further filling material, above the amount present at the beginning of the height adjustment, is supplied during or after the system has been adjusted to the desired level.

FIG. 6 shows a special embodiment of the invention wherein a box or container has a grid-work bottom. The box, which comprises suitable material such as concrete, galvanized plate, plastic or the like, has, instead of a conventional bottom, a grid of e.g. reinforcing steel or beams placed on edge, longitudinally, intersecting in a honeycomb pattern, or another configuration giving good length to the downward facing surfaces of the beams, etc., and a large total vertical surface which retains complete permeability for filling and stuffing material that can be introduced into the arrangement through one or several openings 36 in the side walls.

The boxes etc. of this type can be used for numerous purposes, e.g. as a foundation supporting a deck construction on which an edifice rests; or else mutually coupled together in another Way for the purpose of producing a vertically adjustable bedding having a high ultimate bearing resistance. Separate boxes, suitably dimensioned, can be used either to absorb concentrated loads or, in combination with suitable lifting tackle, to effect height adjustments in bedding or the like.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show in cross-section an embodiment of joist slab having grid-work boxes, as in FIG. 6, designed for replenishing from above of stuffing material. These Figures also show a section through a metal joist having bottom grids. The bottom grids are numbered 38 in said Figures; the metal joist in FIG. 8 and its connecting construction is numbered 40. Loose floor elements covering the grid-work box in FIG. 8 is numbered 42.

FIGS. 9, l and 11 are intended to elucidate the procedure when using perforated plates, especially those having considerable thickness. Through the opening 2 in the plate 1, stuffing material 3 is introduced which falls down onto the filling material 4 lying on the ground or bedding 5. Said stuffing material will form therewith larger or smaller mounds 3, depending on the distance from the plate 1 to the filling material 4 or the ground 5, under said plate 1 (see particularly FIG. 11). Said mounds can be spread out and packed by e.g. tamping or vibration. If the plate 1 is then elevated with the help of low pressure jacks 6, or other mechanical or hydraulic means, said plate will automatically be underpropped in that stuffing material above, or in the openings 2, falls down and builds up the mounds 3. The plate is thereby prevented from sinking back to the position it occupied before the application of the lifting forces. Lifting and replenishing can occur alternately and in stages, until the desired height of the plate has been obtained. The embodiment is particularly suited for cases where only height adjustment is required, but where no significant lateral forces influence the plate 1.

What I claim is:

l. A method of fixing the position of a support structure, comprising introducing substantially incompressible loose particulate material between a multiplicity of vertical intersecting strips on edge that together define a grid characterized by a plurality of series of vertically extending openings bounded by said strips with said series of openings extending in a plurality of directions, said particulate material extending through said openings and beneath said grid and supporting said grid at an elevation above a solid supporting substrate.

2. A method as claimed in claim I, and moving said grid upwardly to level said grid and to permit said particulate material to move relative to said grid to support said grid in its leveled position.

3. A support structure comprising a grid formed by a plurality of upright interconnected intersecting strips on edge which together form a grid characterized by a plurality of series of vertically extending openings through the grid with said series extending in a plurality of directions, and a substantially incompressible loose particulate material occupying said openings and disposed between said grid and a solid supporting substrate with said particulate material supporting said grid at an elevation above said substrate.

4. A support structure as claimed in claim 3, in which said substrate is inclined and said grid is level.

5. A support structure as claimed in claim 3, and an edifice supported on said support structure.

6. A support structure as claimed in claim 5, said edifice having side walls that laterally bound said grid. 

1. A method of fixing the position of a support structure, comprising introducing substantially incompressible loose particulate material between a multiplicity of vertical intersecting strips on edge that together define a grid characterized by a plurality of series of vertically extending openings bounded by said strips with said series of openings extending in a plurality of directions, said particulate material extending through said openings and beneath said grid and supporting said grid at an elevation above a solid supporting substrate.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, and movinG said grid upwardly to level said grid and to permit said particulate material to move relative to said grid to support said grid in its leveled position.
 3. A support structure comprising a grid formed by a plurality of upright interconnected intersecting strips on edge which together form a grid characterized by a plurality of series of vertically extending openings through the grid with said series extending in a plurality of directions, and a substantially incompressible loose particulate material occupying said openings and disposed between said grid and a solid supporting substrate with said particulate material supporting said grid at an elevation above said substrate.
 4. A support structure as claimed in claim 3, in which said substrate is inclined and said grid is level.
 5. A support structure as claimed in claim 3, and an edifice supported on said support structure.
 6. A support structure as claimed in claim 5, said edifice having side walls that laterally bound said grid. 